BowmanMike

The climbing methods available for saddle hunting are what takes the most figuring out. Both of mine took a good amount of practice but i enjoy learning new things. Some people keep tweaking their setup constantly,i guess that is fun for folks as well. I am happy i have mine figured out and dont think i will change anytime soon. Having the rope for DRT is awesome as i can rappel down after using just my platform to climb up. There is no better way to descend than that,especially in the dark. I have to stop myself from saying weeeeee every time. I used the rope and throw bag the other day when i was cutting some trees by my house near the power line. Double duty. I also used them last spring when a cedar tree fell on our house during the last snow storm. I also used my saddle at work a couple of times this summer as a safety harness on a roof.

Shooting is easier from a saddle because your feet are planted and you lean against the rope,three points of contact vs two as in your feet. Makes you very steady. Being able to shoot 360° around the tree is nice and being able to hide behind a tree and draw is as well. My whole setup probably weighs around 12# total,but that is two different climbing methods which let me get into any tree and 3 to 4 pounds are on my hips since i wear the saddle on my way in.

that is about right. I use my platform as a one stick to climb,and also bought rope for DRT climbing. It wasnt cheap but i wont need another ladder stand or climber or safety harness. You can get away a little cheaper if buying used. The predator platform is awesome. There also are platforms that attach to a stick.

That dried up plant above the does head sure looks like antlers,haha.

There is a lot in each pod. I pull the fluff out,i dont drop the pod. I grabbed a bunch of them this year,they should last a few seasons even at the rate i use it.

Looks like a nice mature doe,congrats!

How does your back feel? And congrats on a fat buck!

I just started using kneepads last weekend and they make a big difference.

Why would anyone want shoot a barbed broadhead? It is bad enough if a bad shot happens,but then having a broadhead that will nevercome out on its own just makes it worse. Either you can find the deer or you don't,but it seems much harder for a deer to survive if the broadhead doesnt come out. I went to two blade single bevel heads this year and don't plan on changing that. I might try some different weights,but that's it.

Yesterday was the day of the little bucks for me. I could have shot a button buck and a spike in the a.m. and for the afternoon sit on a different property altogether i had another button buck hang out around me for an hour. I kept wishing him to be bigger,but he stayed small. It is good to be close to deer,but i am eager to get a doe down at least.

Funny timing,i got screwed by the wind today. All morning the wind was go to my right in front of me or to the right behind me. Both ok. When a doe came from my left and in front I got ready to shoot and she hung up,nose in the air. I thought no way she smelled me,but she turned around. I dropped milkweed after and it was going right to where she turned. The wind switched without me noticing. I was dropping milkweed all morning too. Sometimes you win,sometimes you loose.

I got blown at on my way in. I didn't think they knew what i was though. Got settled into an oak tree and around 7.30 a deer is coming in behind me,the way i came in. Big fat doe was checking my entry trail i think. She was alert but not freaked out. I managed to grab my bow but not turn around. She was working her way past me,almost,when i noticed her young one,a button buck. The doe was at ten yards,i was waiting for my chance to draw. That never presented itself,she turned around. The BB was eating acorns right at the base of my tree. They worked off. I watched another deer about 50 yds away and that one came in too,from the right direction. It was a spike though,i think this years. I couldn't even see the spikes until the sun hit them. He got to 5 yds. It was great to have deer so close,i am happy to be in a tree. Last year i spent a lot of time on the ground,that would not have worked today....

I am up and ready to go. I will sneak into a.bedding area soon hoping hoping beat the deer there.. Beat them first then kill one. I am in that kandnd of mood this a.m.

Super calm mornings would be a good time to hunt that too. I have a little creek drainage i hunt and the wind follows the creek 90% of the time,no matter what.

Big hills create their own wind directions..Picture water flowing over everything and you get swirls,eddies etc. Just below the top,generally 1/3 of the way up or higher is a wind tunnel that draws air from below and above,that's where bucks like to travel. Carry milkweed and drop.it all the time to try to figure stuff out. It is hard.

Because it makes you feel left out? It doesn't have to be that way...haha. To each their own. I thoroughly enjoyed not prepping a single stand this summer. Getting into mobile hunting is making things very exciting for me and accelerating my learning curve.

You and me both. I will be out almost all day tomorrow to make it happen.

Phantom here as well. I am super comfortable in it,just added a back band which makes it even better. Some people have to try different ones to get comfortable,but selling the ones you dont like is easy. I like the feel of a saddle and also the options of trees i can hunt. I either climb using my platform with two aiders as a one stick and move it up as i go or i climb DRT. Trees with branches are ok,leaning trees and last weekend i got into a 3' diameter oak tree. The versatility is amazing.

yup,i counted you and Rebel Darling as the two from last year.

I do,first year and i love it. I know there at least five of us on the forum,maybe more. That's a pretty good jump from last year when it was two people,at least as far as i know anyway.

Or you could send it and find out now,haha.

I went out yesterday afternoon to a different spot at the edge of a hayfield in an oak tree. After six i saw legs in the dark hemlocks behind me and then they worked towards me..A lone deer , but it was a forkie That was the first deer in range for me this year,but he got a pass. Too bad it wasn't a doe. Some of those popped out in a different spot in the field but too far away since it was quitting time. The forkie spooked when i lowered my bow and the does when i climbed down,but i had to get down to pick up my wife. I am not too worried about blowing up the spot since i won't hunt the same tree again anyway,my goal for this year.

Damn sodfather,loosing ones mom is tough. Sorry for your loss. Mine passed several years ago and it was harder than i thought. I am glad you had some internet friends show up for you.

Yup,i have seen bucks do that. Just the other day there was a buck entering a field right next to the road at dusk,and the corner by the road was the low spot. He didn't care about the traffic,he wanted to scent check the field before entering. It was interesting. This was a fairly busy road. My spot is blown for today,the neighbors are up and that is where the bedding is. They are a bunch of yahoos that like to shoot guns and ride the 4 wheelers around. The deer will vacate until they leave.

I should be in one around 4.30. I am still torn between sitting at a field edge low where i usually see does come out before dark low on the hill adjacent to a swamp or sit at the top of the field in the oaks.... Maybe what i will do is check the oaks first for sign and make my decision then.